Australia was the third most targeted country in the world by cyber attackers in the first six months of 2021, according to Accenture.
In the systems integrator giant’s Cyber Investigations, Forensics & Response report, Australia accounted for 11 per cent of attacks, coming third behind the United States, with 70 per cent, and the United Kingdom, which received 24 per cent.
According to Accenture’s report, the volume of cyber intrusion activity globally jumped 125 per cent in the first half of 2021 compared with the same period last year.
The report claimed the increase was driven mainly by web shell activity, the use of small pieces of malicious code to gain remote access and control. These then form targeted ransomware and extortion operations and supply chain intrusions.
“Many organisations today are only securing their core corporate systems and not fully protecting their supply chain, subsidiaries and affiliates,” said Mark Sayers, Accenture's AAPAC cyber defence lead.
“That’s why it’s critical for companies to have a holistic plan to cover their entire ecosystems. Industries that previously experienced lower levels of cyber attacks during the pandemic ― such as consumer goods and services, industrials, travel and hospitality, and retail ― should reevaluate their cyber security posture as increased consumer activity in these industries present renewed opportunities for cyber criminals.”
Broken down insurance firms received the biggest brunt of ransomware attacks, sitting at 23 per cent, followed by consumer goods & services at 17 per cent and telecommunications at 16 per cent.
The report claimed that the largest malware category observed by volume was ransomware at 38 per cent, followed by backdoors at 33 per cent.
Russian hacking group REvil / Sodinokibi accounted for a quarter of ransomware attacks, with Fujifilm Corporation becoming one of its most recent victims.
